This invention relates generally to controllers for packers of the type which drop articles into upwardly open packing cases, and deals more particularly with control signal processing methodology and apparatus for the operation of such a controller.
Controllers used with drop type packers generally provide a start-stop operative control mode which is responsive to either a manual start-stop command signal or an automatic shutdown signal generated when any type or degree of packer, article feed or case feed malfunction is encountered. Since these controllers often have only limited decision making capabilities major and minor faults generally cannot be distinguished, and therefore the controller responds to both types in a like manner without regard to the severity and extent of the problem and the overall effect upon the packing process.
Furthermore, these controllers provide very limited or non-existent degrees of diagnostic aids for the human operator. Generally, only an audible or visual alarm of some type is used to alert an operator that a major malfunction or some other abnormality has occurred. In some cases, rudimentary diagnostic aid in the form of a pilot light or the like is provided within the packer itself, remote from the control panel, to indicate the probable section of the packer in which the trouble has occurred.
The general aim of the present invention is to provide an improved controller for use with drop type packers.
More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control signal processing implementation for a continuous motion type article packer which provides for an automatic and orderly increase and decrease in the article transfer rate to accommodate a number of changing operational conditions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a controller capable of detecting a variety of fault conditions and then choosing one of a number of predetermined courses of action in response to the fault detected.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following written description of one specific illustrative embodiment thereof.